Blog
Cabinetry and Sales & Service Counters
Whether you have a reception counter in an office, a reservation counter at a restaurant, or a sales counter in a store, it does need to be accessible. Since many of these items do not require a building permit, the business owner is responsible and often times relies upon the cabinetry fabricator to make it […]
Readily Achievable Barrier Removal
Janis Kent, FAIA, Architect, CASp © August, 2012. Updated February 2021 There is a common misconception – because a building is old, one is ‘grandfathered in’ so nothing needs to be done to make it accessible. This is not true. Building and business owners are indeed obligated to make places of public accommodation more accessible. […]
The Existing Swimming Pool Dilemma
The new 2010 ADAS has caused much confusion with swimming pool access for facility people and building owners in existing facilities. Although it has been in the Guidelines since 2004 the confusion appears to stem from what is considered Readily Achievable for this specific element for places of public accommodation. The Department of Justice (DOJ) […]
Carpets and Area Rugs
You want your lobby, waiting room, or seating area to have a more residential or intimate feel to the space. So you place a lovely area rug on top of the wall-to-wall carpet or hard surfaced floor. No problem, right? Well, yes there is. The issue is, that even though the size is much larger […]
Parking Access Aisles
© Janis Kent, Architect, FAIA, CASp 2012. Updated February, 2020 Your facility is having a special event in front of the building and you want to display merchandise with refreshments right outside the entry so everyone coming in can participate. Since this is only a one day or weekend event it’s okay to use all […]
Queueing
You are expecting crowds to line up due to a sale, so you get out the speed rails and place them on the sidewalk to better organize people while waiting to get in. Rather than have the line as a single queue you arrange it to have several switchbacks. You measured it off and are […]
Restrooms for Restaurants in California
This article has been updated for 2019 California Retail Food Code here » Do you have an older restaurant, coffee shop, cafe, or snack bar located in California and are wondering what to do about the restroom(s)? There are several things you should be aware of. There were no requirements for restrooms for your patrons […]
Walk-Off Mats
It’s raining out and as business owners, what is one of the first things we do? The walk-off mats come out of the wood-work and get placed right at the store, restaurant, or office lobby entries. It is part of our linen service so what could be wrong with that? And since the floor gets […]